I The Great Escape
by Kyeian
Summary: COMPLETE. All I ever wanted was to be treated as an equal, all I ever asked for was my freedom. I'm not going to go without a fight...not yet. Not now. Not ever. This is the first story of the Escape series.
1. The Great Escape

**The Great Escape**

A soft spattering of rain surrounded me as I moved as silently as I could manage through the forest with a bound arm. My ears were still ringing, and for some reason I still clutched the stone in my fist. The damn thing had ripped my palm open when I'd fallen on it...when I'd hit the ground.

"How the _hell_ do they keep _finding_ me?" I hissed through clenched teeth as a misstep sent a jolt of pain rocketing along my spine. If I stopped, I wouldn't start moving again, and if I stayed in one place too long something like a lion would come kill me—wait, lions weren't _really_ king of the jungle...or were they?

Great, something else I didn't know.

It didn't help that my leg was also badly bruised and I'd landed on my knee. My boots were too heavy and more a hindrance than a help...the town, though, that was where I needed to go. What direction was I traveling?

_Great_! Just my luck!

Fiddling with my belt, I tried to pinpoint which of the dangling attachments remained, and which was the compass. There had been one on a knife-end once...for all the good that would do me, since I was completely unarmed...and then the temperature readout...but...

I wanted to cry, frustration making everything just _that_ much easier. A promising looking rock outcropping was visible in the distance and I set my sights on that. If I couldn't get back up again, at least I'd be able to see anything coming after me. I couldn't get a signal fire going, because there was just as much chance of _them_ finding me as someone to help...

I dropped onto the rock and heaved a sigh of relief, setting my hell stone next to my knee.  
Did he _have_ to beat the crap out of me every damn time they caught me? It wasn't as if it was making me _stay_ near them, or even _want_ to stay near them. It didn't matter that we were in the middle of the forest and the rainy season was going to start soon. In a week the rock I was sitting on would be completely submerged...unless the rains came early again.

I stared distantly at a tree as the horror of flash flood returned to me. _That_ time I had been washed _right_ back to them...

There was no telling if my fear was of the water's crushing force...or of them.

Swallowing hard, I started removing what few attachments were left to me. A full canteen. A leatherman, thank god; I'd stolen that from...well, it didn't matter. A flashlight; that'd do me a load of no good. A few fuses...not worth thinking about. A flare—that had to be the most _useful_ thing left to me... Hey! An entire bag of MREs!! Awesome! There were only four packets in it, but that was food. They'd left me a pocketknife? How did that work?

"Yes!" I felt a surge of triumph as the small compass fell to the rock in front of me, my fingers shaking in my excitement. The thing was a cereal toy. Cheap, cheesy, but able to point North, and that was all I needed. The town was about ten miles Northwest of the base they were trying to make me stay at.

It didn't take me long to get my gear back on me, and then I sat there, enjoying the sound of the rain. As long as it didn't get any harder, I'd be fine. It would be when the real downpour started that I'd have issues. I broke open one of my food packs and began nibbling at the contents, smiling at the small candy bar. That would definitely help.

Painkillers!

I dived on the small package and shoved the pills in my mouth before taking a swig of my canteen. That wouldn't do me much good if I were getting an infection, but it'd probably make it easier to walk.

Carefully, I unhooked the sling and tested my arm. That had been last week's gift. When I'd first stolen the leatherman. I'd had it hidden in a small crevice in my room. I didn't want to think of that night. There were many noticeable bruises still, but there hadn't been a day I didn't have one in three years.

Three damn years.

Maybe this time I'd get _away_.

Footsteps.

I froze, looking around me in a mild panic. If they were tracking me...it wasn't like I'd be hard to follow in _this_ state.

There was nothing I could do, plain and simple. Be it _them_ or a civilian, I was caught.

"Oi!"

I followed the voice to its source and stared at the dark-skinned man. He had his eyes narrowed at me. "Hi," I muttered nervously, laughing slightly.

He rambled something at me in his language. Of course, I didn't _know_ his language. _They_ had been taught it, but they'd used Russian as their base. I didn't know Russian either.

"Um..."

"Ah," that must be a universal thing. The guy walked slowly toward me, studying my clothing and focusing on my knee.

I grabbed the rock and raised it warningly.

"Tchtchtchtch," he reassured me, gesturing vaguely at me. He moved very slowly toward me, one hand rose toward the rock and his other hand extended toward my leg. I didn't understand what else he said, but it was all in a reassuring tone as he climbed up next to me on the flat surface.

"What are you doing?" I demanded levelly as he kneeled next to me and started to shove up my pant leg.

What was the point in asking? I didn't understand what he said.

He sighed a long and exasperated sigh, pointing the way we'd both come...at my trail.

It was rather obvious, wasn't it? I looked back to him.

He mumbled a bit, then made a gesture like sweeping.

He'd erased my tracks? I blinked blankly at him.

He muttered something pointedly at me, hovering his hands over my knee before looking around and grabbing my pocketknife. I frowned at him, but didn't get the feeling he was going to _do_ something to me.

"Eh," he murmured, pressing the thing at my mouth.

I frowned, allowing him to press it between my teeth and shook my head so he knew I had no…

"Fuck!" I cried around the bit as he did _something_ to my knee which caused my world to explode into pain...everything swam...and went dark.

- -

"Huh?" I muttered vaguely, feeling slight rocking sensation. All around me there was a babble of voices that made absolutely no sense. I groaned to myself, realizing that my knee was wrapped tightly.

A woman approached me, she was old and the sparkle of her eyes was merry. She chattered at me happily as a younger girl darted through a door...sort of, calling.

"Wha's...going...on?" I asked blankly.

She shushed me, brushing my hair away from my face and grabbing a blanket to offer me.

I was somewhat cold. I nodded.

She beamed at me and tucked it around my shoulders, tucking it in along my sides all down my body before walking away and replying to a male voice coming up the stairs.

I took a moment to survey my surroundings...and could have laughed aloud. We were in a tree house, a series of them, actually. There was no telling how high _up_ we were, but the crowns of surrounding trees tipped me off. Other than the definite lack of glass, I seemed to be in a living room of sorts. There were benches along the walls and a radio was playing in the background.

"Oi!"

I had to smile as the guy who'd found me came into view finally. He returned the grin and moved to sit next to me on the bed, offering me my hell rock. I accepted it, grinning at him. He grinned back, then mimed like he was taking a drink and raised his eyebrows at me.

I nodded.

He turned and said something; which sent the same girl scrambling again out of sight, her dark hair trailing behind her. He followed this by gesturing at the woman. "Mama."

"Mama?" I repeated, smiling at her and nodding my head.

She smiled again.

The guy rambled some more and the girl who'd ran off reappeared with a bucket. She smiled sweetly at me, using a dipper and moving to kneel beside the bed I was on. I sat up slightly and took it from her, nodding my thanks. She blinked at me a moment before turning and grabbing the bucket—which was when I realized just how thirsty I was.

When I'd finally filled my stomach with water, I passed the dipper back to her. "Thank you."

"You are welcome," she said in a bad accent. Her voice was pleasant, though. I smiled more at her.

"Indra," he informed me, touching his own chest, then gestured at her, "Narsi." I nodded. He indicated my leg, so I shifted and pulled the blanket off. He took a moment to gently lift the pant-leg up again and studied the swollen mass of it. He met my eyes finally and raised one hand. He touched it lightly, nodding at me and sticking his index and middle finger out straight. I nodded, assuming me meant my leg. He spread the fingers and studied me a moment before reaching up with his free hand and bending the fingers. Broken. I blinked. He shook his head, indicating that, then split them again.

I'd fractured my leg?

God I'm damn lucky. He tapped my leg again, then rose to his feet and walked across the room, digging onto a shelf before he pulled down an orange prescription bottle. He read it, then walked across the room and tossed it onto my lap.

Penicillin. Marvelous. I searched for an expiration date and saw it was well within bounds.

"Mama," he explained, touching his jaw.

"Oh, abscess," I muttered.

"Yeah!" he looked genuinely pleased that I'd used a word he knew.

"Uh..." he thought a long moment, then made a gesture like he was eating before pointing at my MREs.

I shook my head and touched my stomach.

"Okay," he muttered, smiling more at me and indicating the medicine. "Sleep," he added.

I nodded my agreement, popping the bottle open and popping one of the pills dry.

Mama bustled over to me, taking the bottle and setting it on the ledge near me before pressing back at me as she muttered at me, re-tucking the blanket over me.

I smiled at her, relaxing some and praying to whatever god would have me that _they_ did not find me. "Thank you."

Mama smiled.


	2. To Feel the Fire

**To Feel the Fire**

I'd never have believed in instant immersion if I hadn't experienced it. Three weeks had past since Indra had found me, and over that course I became baby-fluent. I'd felt foolish at first, and somewhat worried that I might offend him when I started trying to learn; Indra had laughed heartily at my first few attempts before correcting me with a sincere expression.

He never asked for my name, though.

The men who were talking reached an agreement of some kind, and Indra turned purposefully onto the deck we'd been at the end of. I followed him down the walkway with my hands in my pocket. My leg was nearly healed, and I didn't actually have too many bruises. As soon as I'd been able to walk without too much pain—as soon as Mama _let_ me, that is—I'd started helping him with chores, so I was fairly familiar with the tree-top village. There were many families living together, and all the homes were built into the trees, it was almost like a fairy tail, except that we all knew the rains were going to bring the water, and the water in turn, would make us boat-ridden.

I'd helped him make a boat. Didn't know how well it'd float, but he hadn't been upset.

Indra started talking quickly to the women who were playing with their children at the end of the stairs. He was pointing at the clouds, and one phrase I recognized was one that had something to do with the rain. I couldn't tell if it meant the clouds, or the actual rain, but I knew it was something to…

Water rushed over the area the mothers were all in, and everything froze. It was only an inch or so, but the foreboding was…

My friend didn't even have to turn and look at me, he grabbed my wrist as he started running down the stairs, and I followed quickly. He picked up two little boys as their mother ran quickly with him to the stairs…and the wall of water appeared. I bent down and grabbed a small boy, the one who'd been farthest from the stairs, and grabbed his mother's arm. I pulled her with me as the roar of water chased us. There was a horrified cry from above me somewhere and I changed my grip on the girl to _carry_ her, nearly throwing her at Indra when we neared the stairs, tossing the boy once she was up…

The force of the water knocked me from my feet before I could reach the stairs, and the flow of the water would take me _right_ back to them…

"Oi," Indra hissed at me, catching my arm and fighting to remain in control of his own footing.

Again he was saving me.

I fought the current and rush of rising water until I could grab the stairs, nearly sobbing with relief as I pulled myself out of the current and he laughed _his_ relief.

"Thank you!" I muttered, following him up the stairs and collapsing…as another shout rang out.

Screaming started in the distance.

All eyes turned toward the sound, and screaming became closer…someone who understood what the sound meant acted, and acted fast. I was holding a length of rope before I realized I'd caught it.

In an instant I'd looped it around a support post, then tied it around my waist—as another wall of water crashed down on us. Indra ran to higher ground, and I realized that our little docks were about to be flooded under, but I could _see_ the girl screaming.

I dove into the water.

Fighting the current, swimming through the rush of water that was over my head, was hell. It took all the strength in my body to do it, and I knew that I wouldn't have been able to three weeks before. I managed, however, catching the girl and holding her tightly as I was yanked with the force of the water…and my rope caught us.

Well, _that_ burned.

The girl clung to me as the horrified screaming continued from the next tree-village over. Indra had explained that to me at one point. In isolated clusters, there were these small tree-villages. None of them were on any maps, because it was random people living together, and the places didn't last too horribly long. Well, I assumed the latter…

"Oi!" Indra was standing at the end of the second steps, waving at me. One of our people was calling loudly, but I was dealing with rushing water—hopefully it wasn't another person that I'd need to grab.

I had a feeling I wouldn't be able to make it back up to our docks on my own…but this water was icy, and the girl was small. She seemed to be about fifteen, and the terror in her eyes suggested she was relying on me completely to save her life…

How I made it to the dock stairs was beyond me…and cheering erupted from everyone waiting, men and women alike were jumping up and down in their spots and shouting my triumph to the uncaring clouds—the noise was…well, it covered some of the rushing water.

I knew there was no way I'd be able to pull the girl across the covered-dock, though. It wasn't thick over the wooden planks, but it was fast enough to drag me under, and I didn't have a tie for the other end…

Indra, however, had no intention of leaving me hanging in the cold water. He and several guys tied another rope securely around the far-post, and he tied that around his waist, stripping off his shirt…and diving into the area between the two dock extensions. I watched with interest as he swam powerfully through the surging waters, extending one hand to me as he neared. "Help me up."

I did so, using what strength I had left to allow him to gain footing. When he sat on my legs, it gave me pause, but in a moment he'd untied the rope from his waist, and I clung to him as the water tried to tear him from me. I had my back to the pole my own rope was tied on, so he worked at tying his end of the rope over my head, then slid my rope up and over the rope he'd just secured. He secured that with his arm before taking my pocketknife and slicing my knot. It _was_ a secure knot, that… In moments, he'd wrapped my rope several times around his rope.

"Let's go," he muttered, tying the loose end of my knot around his waist—at least it meant something like that. I wasn't quite fluent in his language…not that I even had a _clue_ what continent we were even _on_. The girl continued to cling to me as Indra helped me through the still surging waters. I didn't lose my footing, but he did. After a few moments of floundering, he managed to move back to my side and we started walking again.

The distant screaming had stopped. The man who'd been relaying the events added something about _her_ and _protected_, which I assumed meant that he was telling her mother that I'd saved her.

I had saved her.

I stared at the girl as she beamed up at me, staring at me in complete disbelief. After a moment, she reached around and grabbed my braid, but before she could ask or I could comment, Indra yanked me from the water and up the stairs—my pain tolerance had grown astonishingly over the years, so it wasn't such a bad trip…and Mama was there.

In moments I'd been stripped bare and dry blankets were wrapped around me. Narsi repeated the process with the girl, all the while talking to her soothingly until we were both ushered into a room that I had helped Indra wall. Their unique little fireplace was lit and I allowed myself to crumple sideways on the soft rug before the thing. In a moment the girl climbed over to me, smiling again as she curled into my lap. I sighed, pulling her closer as the warmth of the fire touched me.

"You are a hero," Indra informed me slowly. "You saved three people today alone."

I blinked at him. "What do you mean? I couldn't have let her just die."

"Not many could have saved her," he muttered, moving to sit next to me again and lay a reassuring hand on her leg. His next words were beyond my comprehension, which caused him to laugh. "You should sleep now, Oi. Mama will make you dinner and Narsi will bring you new clothes. Are you okay, little girl?"

She nodded, then smiled up at me again. "I am Djara."

I smiled in return as Indra rose to his feet and said something to the girl I didn't comprehend. She nodded in return, resting against my chest. The warmth of the fire, the blankets, and her warm little body worked into my tired muscles…and I slept.

- -

Monsoon season was in full effect, though the water did drain down well below the docks. It wasn't long before Indra and I were going out and fishing. I'd been staying with them for two months, and Djara seemed to be trying to get me to marry her or something. It was bazaar to have a little girl mooning after me like that. Her mother kept bringing me gifts, and her father had even presented me with a knife in honor of my saving his child.

It was really disturbing.

On top of that, the first woman I'd grabbed completely fawned over me, and the little boy…well, he wasn't a nuisance. He showed me things he found and tagged along after me all the time, but he was just being a kid. He liked me, I didn't mind him—it wasn't an issue…but Djara.

"Oi."

"Hm?" I muttered, turning to look at Indra as he moved up the staircase behind me.

"You hear that?"

I listened intently—and noticed the sound of an engine. I cried out in alarm, turning and looking for _some_where to hide…but…there was nowhere. "They can't find me!" I begged my friend. "I can't go back to them! They can't…"

He stared at me in shock, then considered my words a moment as the engines grew closer. "You are scared of them."

I shook my head slightly at him, trying not to recall the horror my life had been before I'd managed an escape. They would _kill_ me if they found me…

"Come on," he muttered, grabbing me by the wrist and pulling me down the stairs. When we reached our little hut, he shoved me down beside the door. "Don't move."

I nodded, curling forward as I waited the eternity it took for the boat to actually near our village. All the occupants of the place gathered at the dock-ends; I snuck a peak. Indra talked to them all quietly and calmly, and as a whole they accepted his words…and the motor cut.

"Oi!"

The voice sent chills down my spine.

He started talking then, quickly, asking if my friends had seen me, if I might be there. He described me to a T…and fixated on my braid.

"Just let me check," Wufei's voice was soothing, and I heard the boat they were in bump against the dock-edge. The sound of the boots on the planks made me want to cry. If they let him come up…if they let him… They were ignoring Indra and Narsi, who were protesting the intrusion and insisting they hadn't seen me…and _he_ muttered something about coming back for Wufei.

I bit my lip, trying to control my panting breaths as the footsteps moved right up to the hut I was in. Seeing Wufei's dark head looking around actually brought tears to my eyes—it was done with. It was over. They'd found me…and _they _would let _him_ deal with me…

Wufei moved on up the second stairs to the higher level as the engine noise disappeared into the distance, and the Chinese man moved back down the stairs with a vaguely interested expression on his face…and saw me.

I froze.

Indra moved up then, pausing near Wufei and starting to shake his head as the guy tapped a cigarette from his pack. He moved to the edge of the hut, studying me as he lit the thing and inhaled deeply before glancing at Indra and back to me. "Hey, Shinigami."

Words failed me.

"I'd tell them you were here," Wufei added, "but he'd probably kill you."

"What?" I asked, sitting up slightly.

"They'll be back in a few minutes," the guy continued, ignoring my words. "You know, I thought you would have at least made it to an embassy by now."

"I don't even know where we _are_," I replied, starting to shiver from adrenaline and fear. Wufei had never actually raised a hand against me, but he certainly hadn't stopped _them_. He hadn't even cared.

The man dug into his wallet, pulling out some bills and counting them as Indra looked between us uncertainly and Wufei rambled off at him in the language before picking up my hell-rock as he finished and set the bills on the table he was leaning over. The rock landed hard on top of it and he sighed forlornly. "Damn it, here I go losing money again."

I stared at Wufei in dismay.

"If they find you," Wufei whispered harshly at me, moving around Indra and into the building to kneel next to me. "If they find you, Heero will probably _kill_ you. I don't know how long you intend on staying here, but I suggest you don't go _after_ Heero. He and Quatre have both lost their minds, and Trowa doesn't give a flying fuck one way or the other…and why do you still have _this_?" There was evident anger in his tone as he yanked hard at my braid.

I cried out, allowing him to pull me over and waiting for the blows…

He was grumbling to himself in Chinese as he rose to his feet again, looking the room over and spotting something—when he turned back to me with scissors in his hands I stared at him in wide-eyed horror. Indra rushed into the room, also looking fearful, but Wufei shoved the man off as if he were a child, knocking him to the ground and snarling a warning at him. He turned back to me and pulled me from the ground by my hair…and started to cut off my braid.

Wufei was by no means gentle, but he finished his task quickly and brandished my sown hair in my face. "You have to _hide_, Duo! You _have_ to if you want to _live_! You can't cling to these little things of the past!" The Chinese man threw the hair to the floor and tossed the scissors onto the table as Indra stared at me in amazement. "I can't keep them out of here forever," he snarled as the motor noise began returning to us, "I can't keep them from searching _every_where. Heero is determined to find you! He thinks he's worried about you, but you and I both know he just likes _controlling_ you!" the words were hissed. Wufei shoved me to the floor again, back into the corner I was hiding in. "And you know he'll kill these people like nothing, so you'd better shape up or ship out."

"What do you want me to do?" I demanded of him, fighting the overwhelming emotions and tears, "What am I supposed to _do_? I don't know where we _are_! I don't _speak_ much of the language…and he _scares_ me, Wufei…he…"

Wufei got into my face again. "What the hell do you think he's so obsessed with you for?" he demanded. "Why the hell do you think we're all out here searching for you? I've been trying to get you _out_ for more than a year now, but they're impossible! We all had the same training. We all can do the same things…don't ask me what you're supposed to do. I don't cater to weaklings…if you want my _help_, then ask for it. You think I like seeing what they do to you? Do you think I _like_ watching Trowa laugh about it? I can't stand up to them alone, and you're absolutely useless when they show anger. Get a back-bone, you're supposed to be a god!"

I stared at him, trying to catch my hiccupping breaths.

"I've got to leave now. You better use that money good…" he trailed off, looking to the door to our hut and blinking.

Djara gasped in shock, running into the room and picking up my fallen braid. She stared at in astonishment before turning to stare at _me_.

"What the hell?" Wufei asked me, blinking at her.

Indra moved over to her and took the hair, throwing it under the bed and shoving her at me. She moved onto my lap and clung to me, staring at Wufei in wide-eyed terror.

I sat up, focusing on Wufei.

He smirked at me. "I see." He rose to his feet again, looking to Indra a long moment before pointing at me. "Heero will slit her throat if he _ever_ sees her clinging to you like that…or maybe he'll do _worse_ than kill her."

A sick certainty of what he _meant_ sunk into my bones as Djara turned her small face up to mine, obviously confused. He was speaking English to me, after all. She had no idea on the language.

"It's all right," I whispered to her, "he won't hurt you."

"Your hair," she muttered, touching the freshly shorn ends.

"It's better this way," I muttered, nuzzling her nose slightly. "Just…shh. You need to sit here with me…the men in the boat want me."

Her eyes turned huge.

Indra followed Wufei down the stairs, demanding something of him that was beyond me again. Wufei's fluency in the language astonished me as he spoke in a quiet tone.

"Nothing?" _his_ voice sounded disappointed.

"Nothing," Wufei agreed. "I didn't think they'd lie to us anyway. Let's head back, he probably died."

"No," _his_ voice was firm. "He knows the weather pattern here and would have gotten somewhere to avoid it…he's out here somewhere…and when I find him…" the rest of his words were lost to distance and the engine.

I didn't need him to finish his threat, though.

I already knew what he would do if he found me.

- -

E/N: I reread and fixed some of the grammar on 1/25/07.


	3. Take me Down

**Take Me Down**

Two months, three months… Time flew buy. All but one bill Wufei left me was given over to the cause of supplies when two of the men announced they would be heading to the city. They returned quickly with many things, including a shirt of Djara. Granted, I'd asked them to pick her something up…well, evidently Wufei had left me a small fortune, because I'd asked them to pick things up for Vasu, the boy I'd saved, and for Nassaiya, his mother. They brought her back a skirt and jeans for the boy, and gave me money back. There was plenty of foodstuffs, snack-foods, a lot of it. They also had brought long-term items.

They gave it all to me.

Indra explained that the money used to buy it had been mine, so the goods were mine by right. All I claimed from the lot was a bag or two of chips and a candy bar before calling the children forward.

I was very loved that day.

Among other things, however, I'd taken on getting food for the widows. There were three of them in our little enclave, and Nassaiya was the only one that had a single child. It wasn't expected of me; actually, I was only expected to help Indra get food for Narsi and Mama. My family. When I started taking food to the widows it had been shocking to them. Overall it seemed to have helped immensely for the entire village. Some of the men had three or four siblings to feed, or children of their own. It was a group responsibility to feed the women with no men, and since the only woman I could claim was a girl who lived in another village… Well, we took care of our own, and I really did feel I was part of the family.

For three years, since I was nineteen, I had lived in fear of _him_. For three years I'd bowed to his ideals, watching television with him or helping him at his tasks. He had not let me take on anything for myself and became angry with me at the drop of a hat. In all fairness, the continuation of the situation was my fault. I'd let him cow me, I'd let him dominate me. Hindsight is twenty-twenty, and if you've seen it all before, don't let it happen again. I had no intentions of doing so.

However, taking on my tasks the way I did was my own way of…making up for lost time. Having to work for my own and working for others at the same time made me feel _real_. Of course, supporting the widows almost made me a father in the children's eyes, and hardly a day went by that I didn't have at least two of the five in tow.

And then there was Djara.

Indra had laughingly informed me that she was eighteen years old, though she only looked about sixteen…fourteen…she looked young. He seemed to have an innate need to flick me endless amounts of shit over the girl. She didn't live at our village, and after the incident with Wufei, she'd been forced to come home at night. She'd taken to rowing over in her own little boat, though, so it was rare that a day went by when I _didn't_ see her.

My grasp of the language broadened, and one night tossing and turning while Mama snored, I'd recalled a bit-fact that had been shoved at me when I was still a boy. If you could grasp a language while you were young, before you were eighteen, then learning languages would be much easier for you. I'd learned Chinese when I was fourteen, and that language was one of the hardest. My ability to speak that made my ability to learn other languages much easier. Of course, I also knew Japanese to an extent, and Spanish.

The language here was very similar to Spanish, actually, but not one I knew.

I had to assume we were in South America somewhere.

"Oi!"

"Yeah?" I returned, moving to the door to see Indra waving me to him. I bounced down the stairs as Vasu and one other little boy came around the edge of the building—they'd been playing with toys outside my hut. I ran my hand through Vasu's hair, focusing on what Indra and another male were saying.

"He wants you to marry Vasu's mother," Indra muttered quietly to me, raising his eyebrows. "He says you're dishonoring her."

"I've been taking care of _three_ women," I returned, raising my eyebrow in return. "And I don't think I'm allowed a harem." Indra blinked at me in confusion as I realized I'd said the last in English. I laughed. "More than one wife," I explained.

He laughed a minute, thinking about it, then shrugged at me. "I don't recall any such law."

"Indra!" I protested.

He laughed happily, turning back to the highly offended looking male in front of us. "Your sister sleeps in her own hut, and Oi sleeps in mine."

We both realized what it sounded like he'd said and exchanged a wary glance before focusing on the man a moment—as Indra snickered.

I covered my mouth with my hand, pretending to cough. "Yeah, you treat me right…"

Indra started to actually laugh.

Nassaiya's brother narrowed his eyes at me as I licked my lips, not sure what to say to him. I didn't want to marry his sister. Nassaiya was a sweet girl, and Vasu was really like my own son, but…marriage? Hell, I'd only ever had sex once.

"I treat you right, baby," Indra muttered in a low voice, draping his arm around my shoulders and meeting my eyes. "You like that, huh?"

I died laughing along with him, shoving him off the deck and into the water—which brought a lot of attention our way as he splashed at me…so I jumped in after him.

The only way to have a real water-fight, after all, was _in_ the water.

- -

It was wearing to fish for five children and three adults other than myself. To be sure, it wasn't only _my_ task, but I really did bring in a majority of the food for the widows. With the weight of taking care of another's family off their shoulders, the men of the village turned in fine-form. As long as we were all in good spirits, I basically fished my myself and Nassaiya. The woman's brother was right, she really was like a wife to me. She made my food for me so Mama could make food for Indra and Narsi; when my clothing turned up with holes in it, she went and darned it for me. She was the one to cut my hair and keep it trim—a new thing for me. I hadn't had short hair…ever. Not in my memory. She kept it trimmed up for me, and in return I fished for her. If anything around her hut needed mending I mended it—she wasn't the only one I did this for, actually, my presence eased up the tension in the place to take care of everyone. I was that one set of extra hands that made everything run smooth.

"Good morning!" Djara called to me as I waited at the end of the dock to help her bring her boat in.

"Good morning," I returned, smiling at her.

"Did you sleep well?" she asked, pulling in her oars and allowing the natural flow of water to lead her to the dock.

"Yeah. Did you get home all right?"

She smiled sweetly at me as I caught the end of her boat and started to tie it up. "Yes." She watched me work then offered her hands so I could pull her from the boat. "Are you hungry? I made treats."

"What kind of treats?" I muttered, looking back to her boat and a cloth-wrapped bundle. I wasn't sure what her family situation was at home, but she seemed to be the extra child with nothing to do. That was the only reasoning I could come up with to explain her presence in my village daily.

She unwrapped a ball of sweet rice and offered it to me with a small blush.

"Ooh," I muttered, taking it from her and biting into it. I'd come to realize that these little treats were very simple to make. Nassaiya always had a small bowl of them in her hut for the children. I had them at will, but I also knew that Djara was still too young to cook consistently for herself or her family. Her manner suggested that these had been made especially for me. I grinned at her, relieving her of the bundle to see how many she'd made, which caused her to beam as she moved to my side, walking with me up the docks.

"Good morning, Djara!" a few of the girls called down to us, waving happily. There were probably twenty children in the village, and just as many teenagers. Narsi being one of them. There were another twenty men ranging in age from early twenties to late forties…and I'd never bothered to figure out the rest.

"I made treats!" Djara informed them all as we cleared the deck in the near-dawn sunlight. I grinned, snatching two more from the bundle as Djara took the lot from me and offered them to her friends. The fact that I was still munching on them suggested the thing weren't bad—they _were_ good, so the entire parcel was emptied before I could grab more.

"I've got to go work," I muttered, leaning over and kissing her cheek before heading back into the hut I shared with Indra, Mama, and Narsi. My mornings were simple, but around the time Djara showed up each day, it was about the time it was to go fishing.

"That girl's family really loves you," Indra informed me, watching me eat another rice-ball.

"Why do you say that?" I muttered, tossing him the last one.

"Because normally a girl wouldn't be allowed to cook for anyone…well, her beau, which you aren't, exactly."

"Yeah," I muttered in English, digging out a different pair of pants. "I'd have to be _trying_ for her."

"What?" he asked blankly.

I grinned at him. "Nothing."

He raised an eyebrow at me, but also turned to dig out his fishing things. "I thought we'd go southeast today."

"Sure, just not close to the base," I muttered, changing pants. "I don't want to be near them."

"I don't understand," he muttered, turning to look at me. It was an issue I'd known was on his mind for the last month—since Wufei showed up. "Why are you scared of them?"

"He beat me," I muttered distantly, focusing out the window. "He hit me whenever he got angry…and…well, the other one burned me with cigarettes."

"Why did you let them?" he asked quietly, moving around to see my face. "You are strong."

I sighed, focusing on my shoes as I sat on my bed, then met his eyes and shook my head. "I didn't have a choice. It didn't seem like anyone cared about me. They wouldn't let me leave, either. The track me down and find me every time…"

"Are we in danger?" he demanded seriously, studying me closely. "The one who came here cared about you, but you were scared of him."

"I'm scared of all of them," I admitted quietly, staring at the floor. "But I didn't have a reason to live before."  
"And you do now?"

"You," I agreed, "Narsi, Djara…Mama," I met his eyes. "You care about me and my well being…but you are in danger."

"My sister works at the base," he muttered. "She'll be here in a week."

I didn't know what to say to that.

He looked to the floor. "She's loyal to Mr. Yuy. He treats her good."

A sick sensation settled in my stomach as I took the warning to heart.

If she really _were_ loyal to **_him_**, I could be in real danger.

- -

"I'm home," a soft voice rang across the open waters. "I'm here, with things to share…" the tune was odd, but the instant stir it caused in the village seemed to be pleased.

"Who is that?" I demanded, blinking around the deck until I met Djara's confused eyes.

"My sister!" Indra exclaimed happily, running past as Narsi appeared from whatever hut she'd been hiding in. Mama was close on her heels and not much slower. In a matter of moments half the village was waiting on the dock as the unfamiliar voice sang a song of joy and treasure.

I joined the throng at the dock end, and when I leaned down to catch the bow of her boat, she stared at me in utter astonishment. "How did _you_ get here?" she demanded in English.

I nearly lost my hold on the boat as I recognized her voice and met her eyes—I let the boat go, backing away from her in something like fear.

_She_ was the one who sang at the base. She was the one who made the food…

"Catch it, catch it!" she cried as the boat started away again, and Indra darted forward to do so, glancing at me in concern as I stared at her in amazement.

"Mr. Yuy has been looking for you for three months!" she snapped at me as her brother tied her boat off, scrambling onto the deck to get in my face. "Why are you _here_?"

"Don't tell them I'm here," I countered instantly, trying to fight my quickly rising panic. "I don't want to go back!"

"Why _not_?" the woman demanded, hands on her hips. "You have no reason _not_ to! You shouldn't be a _burden_ on my family!"

"He's taking care of the widows," Indra snapped at her. "Natalie, just…"

"Just nothing!" she turned to glare at her brother. "What right does he have…"

"Do you have _any_ idea who I am?" I snarled, moving forward to be in her face. "Any clue whatsoever how I lived?"

"You were the pet dog in the master's bedroom," she returned acidly.

"Who got _hit_ for sitting in the window," I returned just as coldly, "and burned just because Mr. _Winner_ could get away with it…I'm _not_ going back, and I'm _not_ a burden! I take care of my own and then some!"

She stared at me as Indra moved forward to whisper in her ear, then focused on me a moment. "He is my brother."

Narsi moved forward around Mama, grabbing her sister's hand. "He's helping everyone, Natalie. He even gets me fish sometimes."

Natalie, as it seemed her name was, focused on me again, frowning. "He really misses you."

"He misses _controlling_ me," I spat in English, walking away from her and up to Djara, who was at the top of the stairs. The girl followed me quickly, stepping in time with me until we reached the highest level of huts. It was a far-off wing of the compound, and the building where a handful of the young men lived. There was a similar wing on the other end for the girls who didn't want to stay in their hut.

"She made you angry," Djara muttered, sliding between me and the railing as I stared down at the flowing water. "What did she say?"

"She doesn't understand why I'm here," I returned, meeting the girl's eyes and realizing that when I _did_ leave, I'd have to take her with me. If _he_ ever found out how I treated her…he'd get over Indra and Nassaiya after hearing the stories. He'd even dismiss the other two widows and their children. I was living in a community, and I truly hoped he would understand that if it ever came to his attention where I was—but Djara came to me daily, and Djara relied on me for something more than food and shelter.

"My father doesn't understand why you are here either," she muttered, winding her fingers into mine. "He doesn't understand why you just showed up, or how you saved me—or why. He said the gods wanted me for some reason, and you intervened."

I folded my fingers over her small hand and studied her face for a long moment in silence. She stared at my chest as she waited, and I realized that I really did love her. Maybe not the way she would prefer, but I had saved her life. _I_ had done it on my own, and that had been the first step I'd taken toward leaving.

"I…" she started, then looked to the floor. "It's just…"

"Sh," I muttered, resting my head on her shoulder. "If the gods wanted you, they would have taken you." She raised arms and wrapped them around my neck slowly. It seemed odd to me, being held. Almost wrong, but very right at the same time, feeling her heartbeat against my chest had a sedative effect on me and I closed my eyes.

"I have to leave here when the flood goes," I informed her quietly, pulling away again to study her eyes. "When I do, will you come with me?"

"I can't leave," she breathed, taken aback, her eyes going wide again.

"Then you can't talk about me, either—and I'm not coming back."

She stared at me in dismay.

"Those men at that base…the leaders…they…want me." I considered her eyes for along moment, shaking my head. "They want to make me stay there with them."

"You said the one wouldn't hurt me," she protested, her eyes looking slightly hurt and very confused.

"_He_ wouldn't," I agreed, thinking about Wufei and what he had said to me. "But…two of them would just as soon hurt me over you as….ignore you."

"Why?" she demanded, drawing herself up slightly. "Why do they want you? Why would they hurt you? Why are you running from them? I've heard Indra talk about finding you once. He said you were sitting on a rock with an obviously hurt leg, that he'd marked out your tracks because they were too obvious. Why were you running?"

I met here eyes again, studying her. "Because he wants to control me," I returned simply. "He wants me to do anything and everything he says."

She considered the words, looking upset.

"I hate him, Djara," I added quietly, a wash of something cold running through my veins. "I can't stand to look at him…to be near him. He always wants me to stay with him, and claims that he only has my best interest at heart, but he doesn't care. He refuses to let me be _me_…and he scares me. Not a good combination." I pulled away from her, deciding I'd have to talk to Natalie. "I'll warn you before I leave…and whether or not you show up will be your call."

I wasn't leaving her behind, however—even if I had to kidnap her. It had taken Wufei a single moment to see what she was to me, and she would not be able to pretend she didn't know me when I was gone.

She had no idea what _he_ was like, or what _Winner_ might say or do to get under her skin—and _that_ asylum-bound-fool would read her like an open book. She wouldn't be safe here without me…and I had no intentions of leaving her in danger.


	4. Live and Let Live

**Live and Let Live**

It was morning. The morning Natalie was returning to the base, when I realized it was time for me to go. She had a look in her eyes, a veiled pain. She'd stayed for a month, and we'd talked several times. She understood what _he_ would do to me. She completely understood why I had run away…and what he would do to her village.

I said my goodbyes to her quietly, calmly, knowing in my heart that even if it took her all day, she was going to tell him that she'd found me. I knew he would reward her, and possibly not harm the villagers. She would be favored…and I would be in hell.

I waited quietly at the end of the boat dock with her family, and even after she'd disappeared, I stood there.

"Eh, Oi?" Indra muttered, moving up behind me.

"She'll tell him I'm here," I returned, focusing on him. "He'll come here…in a rage…but if she's with him, she'll be able to appeal for the village sanctuary."

Indra gave me a confused look, looking after his sister with a thoughtful expression, then met my eyes again and nodded once in consent.

I pulled him into a tight hug and held him a moment. "Thank you _so_ much," I muttered. "You saved my life."

"Will you come back?"

I shrugged. "I don't know if I'll be able to make it back—if I'll be able to find the place. I'll try, though, when things settle down. I'll try and come back." I turned and darted up the ramp, moving into our hut as Mama gave me a confused look. I threw things in a bag—mostly the foodstuffs. I could get more clothes with the money. Finally, getting everything I thought I wanted, I moved to Mama and kissed her cheek. "I'm sorry, I have to leave."

"What? Why?" she demanded, her face turning saddened.

"Your daughter…she'll tell them I'm here. If I'm not here…she'll be able to control him. I'll write him a note, okay? Tell him a version of what's happened here." I kissed her cheek again and flew to the desk, scribbling down a quick note in English. I explained to _him_ that I _had_ stayed in the village, then that I had left it, and that the people wouldn't know where I was going.

"What does it say?" Mama asked of me through the tears in her eyes.

"It says I was here and now I'm leaving," I explained, pulling her into another hug and kissing her tear-wet cheek. "I love you, Mama."

Narsi came into the hut with a scared expression on her face, and as I looked out the door I saw the other villagers moving up as well, staring in. I pulled the girl into a tight hug and kissed her cheek, repeating that I was sorry and loved her, then grabbed my bundle.

"Take Vasu!" Nassaiya tried to insist, thrusting the boy at me—and I knew that it was the one family too many.

"Both of you," I said. "Quickly."

That brought a village lull as the woman ran off to pack.

"It will make it easier here—the widows' children are getting old enough now to start helping fish and take care of the families. Without me here…I'm sorry, all of you," I said louder. "Natalie will tell those at the compound that I was here. I don't begrudge her this. It is her right to protect the family. I can't go back, though. I'm leaving now. Can someone tell me how to get to the city?"

- -

Vasu wasn't crying. I'd expected him to cry, he was sitting excitedly in the boat as I rowed and strained against the current. Nassaiya had an exulted and worried expression on her face as well.

Djara had refused to come.

I swallowed hard at the memory of her huge eyes before she turned and ran off, the confused look her father gave me. Her mother wailing when I realized there was no point in waiting for a girl who didn't want me to take her. I'd re-launched my boat, and the mother had keened like there was a death in the family.

Nassaiya, on the other hand, would be of very little use to me in the cities. She spoke no English and was uneducated. Vasu would learn quickly if I kept them with me; they would be fish out of water if I left them behind. I was now Vasu's father…and Nassaiya's husband. I had a family, and even if we weren't married, I knew everyone would expect it of us.

Hadn't I decided not to do that?

It didn't matter. Nothing mattered. I had to leave the one place I'd felt safe, to break my back rowing a boat against a current alone. The only issue was the distance, however. I was used to rowing the boats, though Indra…Indra.

Uprooted from home…_again_.

I wasn't scared this time. Uncertain, for sure, but not scared. I didn't dread going to bed for not wanting to wake up. I _wanted_ to wake up now…and run. I'd have to find an embassy.

Was this city big enough? How much could I get for my boat? Had the water lowered so much that I couldn't _get_ it to the city? Empty boats meant death, and any village they floated near took them as a bad omen. If I did have to leave my boat, it would be securely tied to a tree.

"Oi?" Nassaiya muttered after an eternity of silence.

"Yes?" I grunted, rowing on.

"Why are we here?"

I studied her eyes a long moment, realizing the true logic would belittle her and make her feel useless. "Do you want to go back?" I asked quietly.

"No!" she exclaimed immediately. "Please, don't misunderstand…but…Djara refused to come with us, and here I am."

"Djara is still too immature," I muttered, looking away.

"And am I so much more mature?" she asked.

I met her eyes again and shrugged. "You're a woman, not a girl. If I left you in the village, I'd always worry if you and Vasu were getting fed enough, if that fast job I did on your house would hold…if when the next rains come you'd be washed away."

She offered me an embarrassed smile, lowering her eyes demurely.

"And then it helps the village," I added. "Vasu wouldn't be of age to help them or for another five years or more…and I didn't want to leave everything behind."

"So there are many reasons," she noted, looking to my face again. "Many, not few."

"I could keep coming up with them if you'd like," I noted.

She giggled, flashing that smile at me again, then leaned down and lifted her son to her lap to hug him tightly.

Maybe I'd be a good father…maybe I wouldn't do something wrong by her…

And maybe it would be a disaster.

- -

I rowed and rowed and rowed, and when my arms got tired, I rowed some more, when my back got tired, I changed things up…and rowed.

The men who'd go to town had misled me slightly. Their trips would be all day trips, but I assumed most of their day had been spent in town, but as the day wore on, I began to realize the flaw in that assumption…or maybe it was because only I was rowing. The men who'd go into town would usually be a group of six or seven…depending how many they could fit with the amount of stuff they intended to buy.

I'd come to the conclusion over my five months of exposure, that we were speaking Portuguese and I was fairly certain we were in the Amazon Rain forest, and while we'd all loved the huge vastness of it while fighting in our gundams, being the soul rower in a little twelve foot canoe left something to be desired.

For her part, Nassaiya made sure we stopped so I could eat lunch, and made sure I drank enough water…and kept her little boy entertained by singing old songs with him and fishing. They didn't manage to catch anything, but he was trying. Finally, as sunset darkened to night, Vasu fell asleep, curled in his mother's lap.

"We should sleep," she informed me, looking around. "In ten minutes, you won't be able to see."

"Yeah," I muttered, sighing and looking around. It didn't take me long to find a sizeable tree, and I rowed toward that, making sure our boat fit into the center, protected on almost all sides from any floating debris. She helped me tie up, and within moments, I groaned and pulled my seat out, shoving it into one pointed end as she copied the motion with the other and dug out the blankets she'd taken from her home.

"We can wake up with the sun," she informed me as I hopped out of the boat onto one of the branches to walk up and down#151;it had a long flat surface. "Are you hungry?"

"Yeah, you should wake him up," I noted, stretching my back. "I'll be back," I added, hopping from one branch to another until I was a reasonable distance downstream. I had to go to the bathroom, and we wanted that as far away from our boat as we could.

"Where's oi?" I heard Vasu ask in concern.

"Going to the bathroom," she informed him in an affectionate sort of voice. "We're going to eat and go to bed, so you should probably go, too."

"Okay."

The process of getting ready to sleep was quick and easy. After we'd all taken care of our business, Nassaiya set our food out so we could all eat. The boat was about four feet wide, and after we'd cleaned up our supper, I stretched out lengthwise along the bottom, relaxing entirely since my hardened muscles had been worked more than I could ever remember…at least since the wars.

Nassaiya stretched out beside me, curling somewhat into me as Vasu climbed between us to use my stomach as a pillow. I hadn't been this close to a woman, aside from the hugs I exchanged with them there…since I was about nineteen, and if my muscles hadn't been so sore I might have enjoyed it a little more.

- -

When I woke up again, the sky was still very dark, but light enough that I could see a fair distance in any direction. My muscles screamed at me when I moved to stand, but I knew that by this point, _he_ would be looking for me, and I needed to get _away_. By the time I got back from going to the bathroom, Vasu darted by me to do his own business, and Nassaiya was sitting in the boat rubbing her eyes.

"Sleep good?" I asked, sliding back into the boat and pulling my bench back to put it in place again.

"I did, did you?"

I smiled at her, watching her climb from the boat and folding up the blankets. I stretched my muscles out as Vasu rejoined me with one of those happy child smiles.

"Morning," I muttered, winking at him.

"Can I call you dad?"

Wow.

I blinked at the boy in disbelief as Nassaiya wound her way much more delicately to me. Her feet were bare…and very cute…and I really shouldn't be noticing that at this particular point in our expedition of me running like a fucking dog with my tail between my legs.

"Mom," Vasu turned to look at her, "can I call him dad?"

She blinked at her son, about as astonished as I was.

"Mom?"

"What a thing to say!" she reprimanded, focusing on him. "You can't expect him to be your father!"

They didn't even know my name.

"I don't…mind," I muttered, meeting her eyes earnestly. I was very aware that taking her with me from the village was along the same lines as marrying her. I'd been married to her in one form or another since my leg had healed and I'd started feeding her…we just hadn't consummated yet.

I really really needed to focus on more than this.

"Yay! Dad!" Vasu darted forward to hug me around the middle, and I returned the hug with a smile as I dropped back to my seat. "I'm hungry, mom," he added, turning to her. "Can we eat?"

"I'll make food," Nassaiya agreed, studying me with almost curious eyes.

"My name is Duo Maxwell," I informed her quietly.

She turned to look at me with a more thoughtful curiosity before nodding and smiling at me. "Should I take on your last name?"

"How about we wait and see if we get along in the real world, huh? This heaven of yours is misleading."

She laughed at that, turning back to the food.

I unhooked the boat from the tree and pushed away, taking a moment to use my compass to get my heading again before starting to row.

Vasu decided to start talking to me, which actually made the trip seem to go by much faster…or maybe it was just that we were so close to the end of our journey…I hoped.

- -

**E/N**: Wow, to anyone who still might read this, you have my _sincerest_ apologies. I didn't realize how long I'd let this one sit. I'm gonna try to finish this one off soon (and maybe work on Decadence again, heheh…) and yeah…I still don't have a plot for a sequel to In the City at Night, so that one will be a while yet…and I'm sorta starting to work on Ties that Bind (book after Reign). Again, I'm lacking on plots. I have a plot for this one, so it should…go again, right? I hope so, anyway. Sorry again for just letting this one go…and I'll catch y'all later.


	5. Life and the Hereafter

**Life and the Hereafter**

"Brazil?" I asked, studying the bills in my hand a moment as I thought.

"Yeah," Nassaiya agreed, studying me. "You didn't know?"

"I knew it was South America," I reassured her, running a hand through my hair.

"Is that your crap boat?" someone shouted at me in English.

"Yeah," I returned warily, raising an eyebrow at him.

"You make it?"

"With help," I agreed.

"Oh, your boy there?" he indicated Vasu.

Vasu beamed at him.

"You sellin' it?"

"Might," I returned, raising an eyebrow at him. "Might not."

"I could use a sturdy little runner," he noted, moving to join me and kick the side. "You have it out of the water long?"

"Ten minutes, give or take."

"The natives," he muttered, looking toward the flood-plain. "They make the best boats, but refuse to sell them…how much you want for it?"

I narrowed my eyes at him.

"I like to go fishing those tambaqui fish…but boats with engines scare them off well before you can get to'em…"

"The people use these boats to fish," I noted. "That's how they provide for their families."

"You know any?"

"I lived with some for the last few months," I agreed as Nassaiya moved to lean against my side and looking toward her son. "I've been living it."

"Ah…that's…wow," the guy shook his head in astonishment. "I didn't think they'd let outsiders into their tribes."

"I'm lucky," I noted wryly.

His eyes moved to Nassaiya and he nodded. "You jumpin' ship, then?"

"It's about time to get back to civilization," I agreed, looking toward the city.

"Tell you what, I'll give you…this," he pulled out his wallet and grabbed out a stack of bills, "for your dingy."

"I sweat blood and tears for that dingy," I retorted. "It's not as cheap as what you got in your wallet."

He considered that a moment, then looked toward Vasu again. "Okay, fine. I'll put you up in a moderately priced hotel. I can't afford no long-distance calls, but I can get you a room to take a proper shower in, huh?"

A proper bed, too? That idea was highly appealing.

I popped my neck as I thought about it, then shrugged and nodded. "No returns," I noted. "You buy it, it's yours and I'm done with it."

"If you've only had it out of the water a half hour and it's still just about as dry as land…"

"We slept in it last night," I noted, indicating the flood. "We hooked up to a tree and slept in it. It can get a bit wet from time to time, but it's usually pretty dry."

"Mm," he passed the money into my hand with sparkling eyes. "Can you take it to my shack? My wife and I rented a place here in town for the flood season."

"Sure," I agreed, shrugging at that. "Which way?" I looked toward the city again.

"Downstream," he returned, pointing. "Give me a ride and I'll drive you to a sweet little motel…but mind, it's a one night only deal. More'n that and you'll have to pay," he pointed at the cash in my hand. "Just be sure they know."

I nodded, tucking the money away and turning to the two of them. "Load up, we're gonna take it to his place and he'll take us to a motel."

"They don't speak English?" he asked blankly.

"Nope, not more than a few words," I agreed.

"Wow…" he watched Vasu resignedly climb back in before turning to help his mother. I followed and turned to offer my hand to steady my new benefactor. "Your wife looks sweet."

"I told you, I'm a lucky man," I noted with a grin. "You want me to show you how to row it?"

"Sure," he agreed, resting his considerable bulk on the bench. "I'll see if I got what it takes to make the dingy float."

"If you managed to make it sink, I'd be worried," I noted in amusement.

He grinned at me.

- -

Showering in an upright shower had never seemed like such a luxury. I let the water pour over my sore muscles, and felt the dirt and grime of the past few months flow slowly into the drain. It was hard to make myself turn off the water, but this sort of room wasn't exactly in Nassaiya or Vasu's repertoire of knowledge, and I knew I was starting to get extremely hungry.

As I'd expected, Vasu was paging through a Bible and Nassaiya was sitting at the edge of the bed, looking at things with curiosity, but not touching. The part I'd expected was the lack of television or exploration, not specifics…

"Want to shower?" I asked, running the towel over my hair and sighing happily before moving to sit next to her.

"I've never used a shower like that," she muttered, studying me nervously.

"Never?" I protested, then grinned and rose again, pulling her after me toward the bathroom. "Come on, I'll show you…"

She started laughing and trying to fight me as we moved into the bathroom, and when I finally got her in there, she giggled a bit as I tossed my towel toward the hamper.

"It's easy," I noted, tugging at her shirt. "It starts with stripping."

"You might have told that nice man I'm your wife, but that doesn't mean you get to undress me."

I laughed at that, almost blushing as I gave her a look. I indicated the faucet. "The one by the wall is hot, the other is cold. You pull the lever, and the water will come from here…and you just soap up and rinse off."

She grinned, pulling the shirt off.

My embarrassment didn't stop me from looking at her chest before I could help it, and that also made me realize that her bra was falling _apart_. I frowned, moving forward to turn her in a circle and study the shreds coming off of it before meeting her eyes.

"The newest piece of clothing I own is a skirt bought for me by a man who doesn't realize what his actions imply."

I stared at her, blinking as I realized it was the skirt she was wearing. "Uhh…we'll go buy you both new things before we leave, huh? Go out tonight and get us some clothing and find tickets out of here."

"Where will we go?"

I considered that a moment as she dropped her skirt, turning away from her politely. "I have to get to an embassy…either military or American."

"You're American?" she asked blankly.

I nodded, glancing back to see that she was starting to take off her bra. "Um…I'll go look that up and refresh myself on Brazil…you shower. You have Vasu's birth certificate, right?"

"What, Dad?" Vasu called from the other room.

Nassaiya nodded. "The doctor filled it out for me…and I have my own."

"All right," I noted, moving from the room and closing the door as the shower started#151;she made a very cute startled noise, and I grinned a bit as her son met my eyes curiously. "I need to get us passports," I explained, moving to boot up the computer.

"What are you doing?" he asked, moving to join me as I sat down.

"I need to see how much this money is worth," I explained, indicating my handful. "Sometimes lots of bills like that doesn't get you much, and sometimes is a big fortune." I pulled him onto my lap. "I want to get your mom some new clothes, so I'm hoping it's worth a whole lot."

He nodded, looking at the screen.

I was happy to see that the computer was already set up in English. It hadn't occurred to me until Mr. Kimeckerson had taken us through the city to get us to this hotel that the machines might run in the local language.

I could barely speak the language, reading it would have been a heroic act.

"What's it say?"

"Can't read English, huh?" I teased.

"I don't know how to read yet," he returned, meeting my eyes. "Mom doesn't know much."

I nodded as if this were normal, and it probably was here, but in this day and age…kids didn't know how to read? Maybe it was just because he was a native boy. Granted, my own background was fuzzy at the point when I was six or seven anyway. I doubted I'd been able to read at all. Well, I'd probably lived on the streets and scrounged for food.

"So what is it?"

"I'm looking for a map," I explained, clicking a link offered me. "I need to find out where I can go from here to get what I need done."

"How do you know how to do it?"

Because I fought in a war and was as a scrounging guerilla warrior? Somehow that didn't seem like the thing to say. "I just…do," I returned. "I had teachers who showed me all sorts of things."

"In a school?"

"No," I returned, meeting his eyes. "I never went to school."

"Oh," he considered that, then looked back to the screen when I clicked a second link.

"Hey, get me that book," I muttered, pointing at a phone-book on the nightstand.

Vasu darted to do my bidding, bringing back as he studied the front with interest.

"You're a good kid," I noted, ruffling his hair. "I'll teach you how to read as soon as we get where I feel safe."

"Are there bad men after you?"

"Yeah," I agreed, studying the outside cover until I could make out the separate words…

Manaus.

Wow, I'd just rowed through the Amazon River.

I blinked at that a long moment, setting the thing on the desk beside me before scanning the list of entries on the U.S. embassy web-page thing. The closest city to us was Fortaleza. That would be the first place the A.P.B. _he_ sent out would hit, then it'd travel through all the coastal cities. He'd come here to figure out what way I'd gone before deciding if I headed to the United States or not, and considering that I didn't even know for sure yet, it was a mildly disturbing thought. _He_ would figure it out…

I shook that off, reminding myself not to give into fear. If I panicked, I'd be playing into _his_ hands.

Salvador or Belo Horizonte were my actual choices here. I didn't have enough time to hit anywhere else…hell, I might not even make it to Salvador before it all ended. It really depended on how long Natalie managed to keep her silence before giving in to her loyalty.

"You find it?" he asked as I typed in a different set of search parameters.

"Yeah," I agreed. "Now I'm looking for price ranges. Once I can get an average of normal things I can understand how much it's worth," I tapped the money again.

"We don't use a lot of money," he noted seriously, sliding off my lap. "We eat fish."

"Not tonight we don't," I noted, grinning at him. "Tonight we get something store-made." I was thinking savory spicing would be lovely, but the likelihood of either of them having that sort of thing on a regular basis was almost nil, so they wouldn't be able to stomach it.

"Find anything?" Nassaiya muttered, moving from the bathroom and toweling at her hair.

"We're in Manaus, we're heading to Salvador tomorrow, and I get the serious impression that I'm mildly rich right now."

She giggled, moving up to us curiously.

"Dad's gonna teach me how to read," Vasu informed her proudly.

She hesitated.

"We can all work on it," I suggested, looking up to her. "Give us a…family…project to work on."

Her cheeks flushed very slightly as she moved to sit on the bed.

"Let's start," I suggested, gathering up the money and rising to my feet, "by getting something to eat…and getting clothes that will keep us from looking like natives."

She nodded.

- -

"We need three tickets to Salvador," I muttered to the woman behind the counter.

"For when?"

"Tomorrow, as early as you can make it."

The woman typed for a while before nodding slightly and making a note on a piece of paper. "The earliest flight is at six A.M…will that do?"

"Wonderfully," I agreed with a smile.

"Name?"

I decided to bite the bullet. "Duo Maxwell."

She typed that in without flinching. "And the other passengers?"

"Nassaiya Maxwell," she offered easily, spelling her first name out.

It gave me pause.

"And this boy is traveling, too?" she asked, looking to him.

He nodded. "My name is Vasu Maxwell!"

"All righty, Mr. Maxwell," she muttered, clicking a button. "That'll be five hundred. Credit or check?"

"Cash, actually," I noted. My search at the motel had led me to looking up monetary notations, which indicated that I had about seven hundred dollars. I'd sold my boat for three hundred, and the rest was stuff from Wufei.

It didn't matter. I was going to change my accounts and put them on watch myself. The bank I had only allowed one tap at a time, and if _he_ hadn't already done it, I'd be fine. If not, I'd hack it into a different watched account, and take all but the barest minimum from it.

"Wonderful," she muttered as the tickets printed, passing me the boarding passes. "You'll need these and photo I.D…you'll be in advanced boarding because of the child. Check in is a half hour before the flight. You're allowed one piece of luggage, one carry on item, and one personal item to be stored at your feet. There are no knives, weapons, alcohol, drugs, or chemicals allowed on at any time. If you need to change your flight, you have twenty-four hours prior to do so, and your flight is now set in stone, sir."

I grinned at that and nodded.

"Have a wonderful day and thank you for choosing Fly Brazil."

"Yeah," I agreed, leading the pair away.

"I don't have Photo I.D.," Nassaiya muttered with a frown. "I'm on record at home, but…"

I studied her a long moment and smiled slightly. "And what would my wife do if I didn't have an address?"

"I don't know," she retorted, "I haven't met her yet."

I leaned in to be eye to eye with her. "For all intents and purposes, you're now my bride."

She stared at me.

"You have my name, your son calls me dad, and we're leaving Brazil entirely. If anyone asks we fell in love, huh? When we were taking care of each other."

She smiled slightly at that, grabbing Vasu's hand before moving to walk with me and hesitantly grabbing mine. I squeezed hers slightly in return, going over my mental list. I had such a volatile life that things like impulsive weddings were completely legal to me. All I had to tell the military staff was that someone from the village had blessed our union in some way or another and they'd leave the rest to chance. She had her and her son's birth certificates, and that meant she had their registered I.D.s the doctor would have given them when Vasu was born…if she hadn't already gotten hers before that.

I had two hundred dollars, an I.D. to buy, and an account to empty and manipulate before five-thirty A.M.

It was five A.M.

It all depended on Natalie.

- -

Quatre backed away from Heero with wide eyes, a sort of excitement visible in him that made Wufei wonder when the guy would finally snap to the point that he could get him into an asylum.

That's all it was…the waiting game. Heero and Quatre together were a power-house that no one dared stand up to, and Trowa didn't give a damn left or right unless he was irritated...or bored.

Wufei looked back to the screen on the computer as Quatre started egging the Japanese male on again, trying to coax the explosion out of him. Before Duo had ran, Heero would have just gone to their apartment and shut Quatre out, but the place was empty, and for some reason Heero couldn't stomach that.

Maybe he needed a pet…a little annoying yappy dog that'd follow along at his feet and get stepped on all the time…

"_Quatre_!" Heero snarled at the blond, who hadn't stopped talking, actually.

"Make me," Quatre muttered, leaning into his face. "Make me, break me, force me, stop me…" his eyes moved off around the room. "Blue walls," he noted. "They don't make me."

Great, he was going to have one of his…episodes.

Wufei lit a cigarette as he studied the flagged link to Duo's bank account. He'd been watching it week by week since he'd found Duo, and now was more waiting, since he knew that little bitch who sang all the time would give up the ghost any time now.

Actually, it'd been a night since she'd returned from the little village she lived at. Heero was all over worried about her because she _wasn't_ singing, and she _wasn't_ smiling…and she was pretty when she smiled so she needed to smile more…and sing. Her singing made things nice.

He was such a…

Wufei inhaled a long drag as Quatre explained to Heero how the walls made him do it. Wufei wasn't quite sure what the walls made him do, but they made him do _something_.

"What are you doing?" Trowa asked from where he was sitting on the couch across the room. He'd gotten bored by the insanity, then. "You're always on that damn lap-top. What are you doing?"

Wufei focused on Duo's balance with a feeling of triumph. There wasn't much money left in it, and his account would have _grown_ at the beginning of a new month, not decreased by all but a paycheck.

"What are you _doing_!" Trowa snapped, rising to his feet in a way that made Quatre cry out and dart away…to hide behind Heero.

Yeah, that was safe.

Wufei clicked on a porn link he'd inserted readily for such an occasion, raising an eyebrow at the other as he leaned down to look. The Chinese man exhaled.

Trowa started coughing, backing away in disgust. "Damn it, Wufei!"

"I'm busy," Wufei retorted dryly, watching the man levelly. "Leave me alone."

"Go look at that nasty crap in your own room," Trowa grumbled, giving him a look.

"What is it?" Heero asked, blinking.

"My business," Wufei retorted, taking another drag. "You gonna ride up in my business now, too?"

"Like you'd let me," Heero grumbled.

Damn straight.

"Excuse me, Mr. Yuy?"

Wufei looked to the song-bird as she moved properly into the room, flicking back to the bank site, impressed she'd made it until six p.m. the day _after_ getting back in.

"Yes, Nat?" Heero asked, focusing on her.

"I…there's something I need to tell you," she muttered, clasping her hands over her abdomen and fiddling with her own fingers.

"Tell me?" Heero asked, moving nearer to her.

She nodded.

Wufei transferred money from one of his other accounts into Duo's account, glad that Heero didn't have the piece of mind to even _look_ at his accounts anymore.

The girl looked to her feet. "About…about Maxwell."

- -

E/N: I should have the next chapter up shortly, but it was four in the morning when I did this one. Sorry for the mistakes, please forgive!! grins


	6. Inherent Freedoms

**Inherent Freedoms**

I had leeched the money from my watched account at a library internet lounge first thing. I'd followed this up by creating a new account at a bank that was supposed to be hacker-proof. Claims like this were misleading, because all it meant was that no money was moved unless you were there in person to do it, and they had a retinal scan for the key, and a thumbprint as a quick-and-easy.

Actually, that meant I could withdraw up to seven hundred dollars a day at any ATM that had a finger-print scanner, which was cool.

Anyway, living the way I had been for the last three years of my damned life, I hadn't spent much more money than to get myself new non-military issue jeans—for some reason that had been a problem, but I could get normal shirts. The shirts were okay as long as they were funny or useful. If I got one because I liked it there was the demand of why I hadn't just gotten more military issue.

Brewing issues aside, I informed the nice bank people that I had some enemies who might try to break my account, so my special password was going to be Nassmax. They'd been confused by that, and I hadn't bothered to explain that it was a form of my wife's name.

At any rate, I bought Nassaiya two outfits, including under-things, and Vasu two outfits with under-things. That left us about fifty bucks to get supper and me a new set of under-things, and one pair of tennis-shoes.

I wasn't going to bother with more until we were _out_ of Brazil entirely. I liked the country, and was liking it even more as our evening progressed, but it held far too many dangers for me.

I'd bought myself a hamburger, but this hadn't appealed so much to my family. They'd opted for chicken things, and had been very confused when it came breaded. They didn't use breading much at all, so they were wary, but they'd ended up enjoying it.

It was nine at night.

I stretched more as I looked over the city, wondering if my hope was bad. Just _living_ this life right now was renewing my faith in more than myself. I'd been so down at points that I just…figured the rest of the world had to be going to shit, too. At least, it was a cold place with no hope for anyone…but I couldn't bear it, so I decided to run and see. I could live up to the world if I could get into it, so I'd started to run.

Actually, that was when he'd started to hit me.

It was so weird, because those relationships usually implied being mates or partners of some sort. We'd slept in our own beds in our own rooms, and it wasn't like he never brought girls to his room, but if he noticed me looking he got pissy with me. He never said anything to me about it, but if he saw my attention wandering after a maid or something, that maid or whatever would be fired in fairly short order.

Once I'd realized that, I'd just kind of given up…that was when I'd tried to run, really. My life had always been hard, and this was just a different aspect of it. Running had made it worse, but running had also made it more _necessary_ to leave.

He probably would kill me if he caught me this time, and kill poor Nassaiya to be carrying an I.D. with my name on it.

I'd put her in more danger than she deserved, she and Vasu would have been twenty million times safer if they'd stayed back with Indra…and then Djara.

She hadn't come with me.

I moved forward to lean against the glass, watching cars flying by below me.

When we got to Salvador, we were going directly to the American embassy. I'd say she was my wife and I wanted him as my son, and I was in fear of my life. I'd get in, and I'd be safe from _him_…and then I'd start the process of getting their passports. I'd legally adopt Vasu and they'd legally have my name. The military would verify the marriage with several documents, and then we'd be married for real. She'd _be_ my wife.

He wasn't going to hurt her, and he wasn't going to subvert her son. That life was my past, and like everything else in my past, it was done and over with.

I was _not_ going to give up now, when I'd come so far.

…I'd kill him first.

- -

Heero walked into the little hut as Natalie consoled her mother. They were both crying, and the other little girl was staring at him with hard eyes as she sat on one of the beds. The various soldiers were searching the premise, but Natalie had said Duo was staying with her mother.

Heero saw something at the girl's feet, and noticed that she was trembling as she glared directly back at him. She was a cute kid. She'd look like her sister when she got older.

"Mr. Yuy, _please_!" Natalie wailed as he leaned over. She hadn't realized what he'd do when he arrived at the place. She hadn't realized that her mother refusing to speak would get the woman backhanded, or that Indra would be held by Winner and Barton while Yuy _hit_ him. Now, he was with Narsi, and Natalie was realizing she'd made the biggest mistake of her life.

Heero grabbed the thing he'd seen by the girl's feet before turning to display it to Natalie, who started crying more.

It was Duo's braid.

Heero studied the thing with a bit of disgust before noting the girl's eyes were uncertain. He smiled slightly at her, tickling her face with the end—she pulled away. "Oh, fine," he muttered dismissively to her.

Little girls did no harm.

He turned back to the old woman, studying her with interest. "Where is he?"

"I don't know," she returned, looking away.

"Where did he go?"

"He didn't say."

"You lied to us last time I was here," he noted.

"No, I lied," the brother said levelly. "I told you…and Narsi."

Heero glanced at the girl again, remembering her trying to insist that he wasn't there. "She is blameless."

She blinked at him.

He dismissed her, crossing the hut to toss the braid to Quatre, raising eyebrows.

"I wonder if he works without his braid," Quatre mused, studying both ends of the thing. He changed his focus from the braid to the man Trowa was still holding…and looped the thing around his throat.

Indra didn't react.

"I'm very disappointed in all of you," Heero announced, moving out the door to look them all over. "I have no use for liars."

The rest of the members of the little group looked away. No one spoke.

"He's _twice_ the man you are," Indra hissed at Heero. "He helped the widows and taught the young…fished for families that were not his. He didn't come with _men_ to make us obey. He _helped_ us."

Heero looked to Quatre, rolling his eyes.

Quatre tightened the braid, causing the man to choke.

"Indra!" Natalie darted across the area to her brother, prying at the braid as she looked to Quatre with tearful eyes.

"Where did he go?" Heero asked louder, looking everyone over. "Where is he?"

"He didn't _say_," the old woman persisted. She stood then, moving to the table inside the hut to grab a piece of paper.

"Winner," Heero snapped his fingers at the guy, who let the braid loose again.

Indra gasped for breath as Natalie tried to pry the braid from around his neck at all.

"He said to give you this," the old woman muttered, passing the piece of paper over before moving to sit in her chair again.

"You okay, mama?" Indra muttered.

"Hush," she soothed, making a gesture at him.

Heero read the note a few times before tsking in disgust…and backhanding the woman.

"Mr. _Yuy_!" Natalie started crying again, moving to kneel at his feet, looking up to his eyes. "Please…my family did nothing wrong…"

"They sheltered him, they helped him…he's gone because of _them_."

"I don't know about that," Wufei muttered, moving up the dock as he smoked another cigarette. He tossed the thing into the water as he passed next to Trowa and made the man let go by the action coupled with exhaling in his face. Indra pulled away from Winner as well, tossing the shorn braid down the dock.

"You checked this village yourself," Heero noted, watching him levelly. He moved forward, standing eye to eye with the Chinese man. "Did _you_ lie?"

"Challenge me, Yuy," Wufei whispered back. "Do it."

"I should have you killed for this," Heero hissed.

"You'd _have_ me killed, but _I'd_ kill _you_ myself," Wufei retorted.

Heero's eyes narrowed.

"This village did nothing wrong but help a lone man," Wufei noted in a growl. "They didn't realize he was who you were looking for at first. He probably cut the braid off before he got here. Leave the people in peace. Your little girlfriend is going to lose faith in you."

Heero looked to Natalie, who was crying as she sat where he'd left her. She looked ashamed and scared.

The other little girl was standing in the door to the hut, watching with hard eyes.

"Let's get out of here," Heero ordered darkly. "When did he leave?" he asked the man.

"This morning," Indra replied, looking up to him. "Before dawn."

"Was he alone?"

Indra nodded.

Wufei looked the occupants of the village over, taking a mental count of the people. There weren't enough children and there weren't enough women. Further, in one of the little row-boats the villagers would make, there was no way Duo would have made it to change his account over in the time allotted to him according to the man's story.

"No lies?" he asked, meeting Indra's eyes. "Are you lying?"

"No," Indra returned, looking directly back at him with the same hardness the little girl had. "No lies."

"Let's go," Wufei ordered to his friends. "Kill them," he added to the soldiers, starting down the dock.

Natalie wailed.

"Wait!" Heero ordered irritably to the soldiers as the click of weapons echoed over the area. "We can't just _kill_ them, Wufei."

"Why not? They helped him escape," Wufei met Heero's eyes, glad the man didn't have enough mental faculty left to note the deception.

"They just _helped_ him," Heero snapped. "And it's Natalie's family. We can't just kill them off."

Natalie started crying more, moving forward to cling to one of his leg's, thanking him repeatedly.

Didn't he realize that if Wufei hadn't said it, he would have? Didn't he note that it would have been done without a second thought?

Heero disgusted Wufei extremely.

"Can we take him?" Quatre asked, indicating Indra.

"Take him?" Natalie asked, turning her tear streak face to him. "What do you mean?"

"I'm bored," Quatre returned. "He looks like fun."

"That's my _brother_!" she insisted.

"You'd be done with him in an hour," Wufei snapped. "Leave the man in peace. Go grab the braid."

The order distracted Quatre instantly to the thing before he ran to pick it up and show it to Wufei proudly before looking back to Heero with a grin.

"Let's go," Heero ordered, pulling Natalie to her feet. "We need to get to Manaus. It'll take until dawn, but we'll reach it before him."

Wufei looked back to Indra as the man looked away.

If Duo played his cards right, he should already be gone.

He headed for the boat.

- -

"Local time is twelve noon," the pilot muttered over the intercom. "Winds east by northeast at twenty-seven kilometers per hour with scattered clouds and no obvious likelihood of rain. I hope you enjoyed your flight, I certainly tried to make it smooth. Thank you for choosing Fly Brazil, and we hope to see you again. Please wait for the air-craft to come to a full and complete stop before unbuckling and moving around the cabin. Again, thanks for your business, and I hope you have a wonderful day."

The speaker clicked off.

I yawned, scooping Vasu up as he blinked at me tiredly. Nassaiya had gathered the bags we'd brought. She and Vasu had clothing in their bags, but mine was just the blankets. We'd left everything else behind at the village, and our old nasty clothes in the garbage bin at the motel.

"Let's go," I urged, taking my bag from her since it was the largest, then turned and bulled my way up the isle with course 'excuse me's to the people in my path. Vasu had his face pressed into my shoulder, so I assumed the figured he was upset, because no one said a word against us.

"Have a nice day," the stewardess muttered, petting Vasu's head as we passed.

"Thank you," Nassaiya muttered, catching my hand quickly as we started up the walk.

I could see it now. _He_ probably found the passenger manifest by now and had guards waiting around the exit here. No one would question his word. We were very instrumental in winning the wars, and three and a half years of peace could be tested with barely any effort at all.

We moved into the airport main, and I was glad that I'd gotten Nass new clothes. She'd insisted on keeping the skirt I'd gotten her before, but she'd been entirely indifferent to the rest of the things she'd had.

The relief I felt when no one was waiting for us was…beyond all compare.

- -

"He used his name?" Wufei asked blankly as he studied the manifest in disbelief.

Of all the _stupid_ things Duo could have done…

"Let me see that," Heero snapped, yanking the paper away before Wufei could properly protest. He stared at it a long moment, then looked to the woman. "What is this…Nassaiya Maxwell?"

"That was his wife, sir," she returned. "And their little boy," she indicated the name below.

"He's not married," Heero snapped.

"Yes, sir," she argued calmly. "He had all the proper paperwork for all three of them."

Heero's eyes narrowed. He couldn't believe that Duo'd gone and gotten married. He'd been gone five months and a day…and he'd gotten _married_! It was _her_ fault he hadn't come back, then…

"I bet you it's a cover," Trowa noted. "I bet you he picked up some slut and her kid."

The woman started to open her mouth to argue they were natives with proper paperwork, but the look Wufei directed at her made her fall silent.

"This flight stopped at…four cities," Heero noted, looking up to her. "Where's the rest of the information?"

"I'm sorry," she returned with a frown. "We don't have that information on our computers."

"Where did he get off, then?" Heero snapped.

"I'm…I couldn't say," she looked embarrassed. "When the flight lands it'll do a name catalogue of who is still on board, but…it won't reach it's end point until about six this evening."

"That's too long," Heero snapped. He slammed a hand against the desk. "How did he get here that _fast_?"

"Badgering the woman will get us nowhere," Wufei noted. "We'll have to think this out."

Heero popped his neck irritably, gesturing a dismissal at the woman before turning with the manifest toward the entrance of the building.

"Have a…good day," she muttered, blinking after them.

Wufei met her eyes again, then herded the group to their waiting car as Heero thought out-loud. The paper said four cities, and the number of people exiting the plain. It had a mark about how many would get on at each port, but no more names that those who'd started in Manaus.

"He'd have gone to Fortaleza," Heero muttered.

"Why do you say that?" Wufei asked dryly. He didn't know if Heero realized Duo was running _from_ him or not.

"He'll want to hit the American embassy there. They'll take him wherever he wants to go."

"So we should go back to base?" Wufei muttered, checking for cars in the rear-view mirror. He was driving.

Heero snorted.

"We need him," Quatre noted in a very subdued voice from the backseat. "He can't go away."

The expression on Heero's face was agreement.

Duo was getting away, and he wasn't coming back.

Wufei refrained from snorting, pulling out a cigarette from the back and setting it between his lips.

"What are you thinking, Fei?" Trowa asked, studying the guy curiously.

"We need to get out an A.P.B. to Fortaleza."

"What if he didn't go there?"

"We'll figure that out when it comes back negative."

"But that'd just give him more time."

"If he's not there he'll be moving faster than we are," Wufei snapped irritably. "If he's not there, we've probably lost him."

"I'll _find_ him," Heero growled tightly.

"Besides," Quatre added in that same subdued tone—when they'd gotten into the city, Quatre had seemed to wilt. "What else do we have to do?"

"It's not that easy!" Heero shouted, turning on him. "It's _not_ that simple!"

"It isn't, is it?" Quatre asked, then sighed and leaned against the car door.

Heero settled.

"But it is."

Wufei rolled his eyes.

"Hurry up and get to H.Q.," Heero snapped.

- -

"Hey," I muttered happily to the man in the guard-shack as a sense of relief washed over me—after all the _shit_…. "I need sanctuary."

The man stared at me.

"Here," I slid my passport to him and watched him blink at it, then look up to me again in confusion. "For my wife and son," I added. "I fear for my life."

The words with the as-valid-as-he-could tell papers made him hit the button.

I pushed through the gate into the enclosed waiting area, waiting for Nassaiya to get through before setting Vasu down. The initial immigrants to the United States probably felt like this when they reached Ellis Island, with that statue looming over them promising freedom…

The gate closed behind me with an ominous click, and I moved us to the inner gate, indicating for the pair to sit there before moving to the desk-door-thing.

"You are an American citizen, sir?" the guy added, moving through that as he studied my passport.

"I am," I agreed, passing him my I.D. "Can we speed this up, please? I'd love to be properly on U.S. soil."

"There is procedure," he reminded me, studying the I.D. before frowning at me. "Well, I believe you're who you tell me you are…and that verifies your citizenship…but your wife? You have your marriage certificate?"

"She's a native from the basin," I returned. "The village leader blessed us."

He blinked at that.

"I'm a class five-A sergeant," I noted, blinking at him. "My rights are listed under the fourth paragraph of the Convention of Nanchang in one-nine-eight."

He blinked at me.

"It states I have the right to marry in any state or province. The girl has my name, and so does the boy."

"But no certificate?"

"No, but if you can bring your general here, he'll verify what I've said."

"The Convention of…Nanchang," he mused. "That's the one dealing with you pilots, right?"

I nodded.

"Pilots?" Nassaiya asked blankly.

The guard turned to his radio as an A.P.B. for…me…was announced over all air-waves.

"I've claimed sanctuary," I noted, studying his eyes. "I'm in fear of my life."

He grinned slightly at that, hitting a button on the inside of his shack.

Was that it? Was that the end? It had all come down to the claim of sanctuary working. It'd had all come down to me believing the government of my birth-colony would protect me on some level. I didn't know if claiming sanctuary would work or not…if there was some other procedure to follow…

"Welcome to the U.S., Maxwell family," he muttered with that same grin. "I'll escort you to the consulate as soon as a replacement meets me." The gate popped open, and I stared at the ground beyond in a long moment in disbelief.

…I was safe. I'd taken Nassaiya to actual safety…I'd gotten away from _Heero_…

I followed my wife into the gated area as a soldier came running from somewhere and flashed me a grin as he passed.

"What?" Nassaiya asked quietly.

"This way, please," the guard muttered, gesturing toward a sidewalk. "No need to rush, of course, but the consulate will be expecting us and it'd be rude to keep him waiting."

…I was free.

**_End_**

- -  
E/N: Wow, that one ended a lot faster than I thought, but I have a sequel immediately in mind, so yeah…it shouldn't take long for me to write.


End file.
